Question

Which experimental result caused problems for Broadbent's filter model of selective attention?

Answer 1

The experimental result of Dear Aunt Jane experiment caused problems for Broadbent's filter model of selective attention.

Explanation:

According to Broadbent's filter model of attention, an individual is likely to select pieces of information and then the rest of the information is filtered out. That is, the individual will be able to recall only a part of information and not the rest. The information is selected on the basis of the physical characteristics. These may include colour, shape, location or in case of auditory information, loudness of the message.

But in 1960, Gray Wedderburns conducted an experiment which contradicted the results presented by Broadbent's filter model of attention. The Dear Aunt Jane experiment showed that an individual is able to understand a portion of information that he/she did not pay attention to. For example, if a person is sitting in the middle of two people who are talking into his/her ear, he/or she will be able to filter in the information that was selected early for processing as well as a portion of information that was not paid attention to.